Technology vs #Eco Habits

Steffen's View

3 minutes

There’s more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere now than any time in the history of the human race. More than half of this increase has occurred since 1970. It is a worrying fact from the Royal Society. Other sources have a similarly gloomy picture.

As part of the UK’s strategy for tackling this climate emergency the Climate Change Commission has put in place a target for the UK to reach net-zero greenhouse gases by 2050. At Bosch, our target is to be carbon free by 2020. But this is only a small drop in the ocean. How can carbon neutrality be achieved worldwide? After all, this is a global issue not confined to those signed up to the targets. And as individuals we all have a part to play.

There has been a lot of focus in the media on changing our behaviour, switching to green energy providers, eating less meat, using easily recyclable materials. I believe although these things will help to tackle this, we shouldn’t focus solely on behaviour change, it is not realistic. We cannot rely on individuals to abandon the freedom of choice we have been so lucky to enjoy these past years. Outside of our own country, we cannot tell developing countries that they cannot have the lifestyles we have enjoyed for so long because of CO2 regulations.

The solution, I believe, is technology. Utilising the latest technology to drive down emissions, develop alternative materials, encourage new habits, and produce power through new solutions. For example, for energy production to move away from fossil fuels, we must consider a multi-solution approach. Hydrogen, synfuels, fuel cells or electric powertrains all could have their place in the future of power production for the domestic market. However, battery based powertrains won’t be enough for cargo ships, trains and heavy duty applications in the foreseeable future. Here we need even more innovation.

There are many opportunities to innovate and at Bosch we continue to be leaders in research and development, investing last year alone more than 7 billion euros in new solutions for a better living. Working on innovation that tackles the climate crisis make sense for our company to grow – these innovations will play their part in the battle to halt the growing temperature of our planet. But also it is part of our ethos as a company to use our knowledge and expertise to make an impact for and improve quality of life for future generations. I am confident that through our engineering expertise we can make this happen.